I am a parent of a disabled child who rode at Rainbow Center for over 20 years. My family has seen Rainbow transform from a small, seasonal, outdoor program on a leased farm to the wonderful full-time program at its beautiful permanent home. I really understand what an impact it has had on my child’s life, as well as all the other riders Rainbow has served including children, young adults, at-risk youth and wounded services personnel coming from Walter Reed Medical Center. We are truly lucky to have such a wonderful organization in our community. Recently Inside NOVA announced Rainbow Center as the best equestrian facility in Prince William County again, for the third year in a row.

I would like to talk to you briefly about the Rainbow Therapeutic Riding Center Fun SHow scheduled for April 28th, 2018. As most of you know, the tuition we pay for lessons covers only a portion of the total costs. In fact, less than half of Rainbow Center’s revenues come from tuition and other program income. The remainder must come from donations and fundraising. In some cases, Rainbow Center provides scholarships to offset tuition costs for riders who otherwise could not ride, and that too requires fundraising.

Rainbow Center holds several fundraisers a year to help make up the difference. But only one, the fun Show, is really specific in asking the Rainbow Families to solicit help. Rainbow is in more need of a successful Fun Show than ever in order to sustain existing programs and grow new ones. So I would like to urge you to do two things:

Come to the event with your rider and have fun!

Please try to get pledges to help support the fundraising goal of the event.

The intent of this fundraiser is not to place an additional burden on our families to contribute money who simply cannot afford it. There are some who can and are welcome to, but the success of this fundraiser lies elsewhere. The goal of the Fun Show fundraiser is for you to seek help from friends, family and especially professionals and businesses that you know to sponsor your rider’s participation. Please emphasize how important Rainbow Center is to you and the disabled individuals that benefit. Please sign up as many sponsors are you can. Thank you for helping make this a successful Fun Show. It is very important to our program. And please don’t forget to come and enjoy the special events of the day.